Asus Fonepad 7 2014 FE170CG – Review

Asus launched Fonepad 7 last year but now it is a revamped version which comes with Voice calling feature. It is a 7-inch tablet with dual SIM and supports 2G, 3G network. The Asus Fonepad 7 2014 FE170CG is a budget tablet available on Flipkart for Rs. 7,499.

Design

The Fonepad 7 has a similar look like its earlier version but also slightly better in design. It comes with textured finish at the back which lets better gripping. The entire body is made of plastic for day to day use. It is slightly lighter than previous edition. We got the White model to review but it is also available in Blue, Red and Black. The tablet has 7-inch screen with wide bezels which makes it little big in its size. The volume rocker key and power buttons are on right back side little bit rear end. It has micro USB and earpiece at the top of the screen with dual front speakers. The SIM card slots and microSD card slot are at the left side of the tablet. It has a non-removable battery. The primary camera is rear panel and below of it Asus logo made.

Hardware and Software

The Asus Fonepad 7 comes with 1.2GHz dual core Intel Atom Z2520 processor. It has 1GB of RAM with 4GB of onboard storage which is expandable up to 64GB via microSD card. Asus giving 5GB of Cloud storage to consumer which has life time validity. The tablet sports 2MP rear shooter and 0.3MP front shooter.

The tablet comes with 7-inch display with 1024×600 pixel resolution. The tablet comes with anti-fingerprint but it is not true, it is hard to view the tablet in sunlight with little tilt. It comes with 3950mAH battery capacity. It has Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi connectivity too.

The tablet is running on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with Zen UI on top of it. There is no word on KitKat update yet. The Zen UI is not easy for new user but it is promising as lockscreen has direct access to Camera, Phone and Messaging apps. And you will find What Next in lockscreen which is for user’s scheduling.

The Zen UI is a colourful UI with some eye candy icons which we have already seen in Asus Zenfone series. It comes with few bloat wares like Audio Wizard, Omlet Chat, Super Note, and Splendid. Multi window is not present in Fonepad yet.

Camera

The 2MP rear camera and 0.3MP front camera are not up to the mark. It is hard to take pictures in daylight and don’t think of low light shooting. Asus could have done a better job by giving a rear camera of 5MP which comes in another Asus Fonepad variant.

Performance

The Antutu and Quadrant benchmarks for Fonepad 7 are 18,167 and 6,935 points. The tablet plays common file format with 1080p smoothly. The dual speakers with SonicMaster give better audio output than the last year model. The battery runs for 10 hours 35 minutes which is great and the power saver mode works for tablet.

Gizmo Verdict

The Asus Fonepad 7 is an affordable tablet for Rs. 7,499, which is good for long battery use and Voice calling. It is also a dual SIM which is added benefit with 3G network connectivity. Check the video review of Asus Fonepad 7.